Kohima district, the first seat of modern administration in the Naga Hills

Background

Kohima is a hilly district of Nagaland bordering Assam and Dimapur district in the west, Phek district in the east, Manipur and Peren district in the south and Wokha district in the north. It became the first seat of modern administration as the headquarters of the Naga Hills District, then under Assam, with the appointment of G.H. Damant as Political Officer in 1879. When Nagaland became a full fledged state on 1st December, 1963, Kohima was made the capital of the state. Parts of Kohima district have since been carved out three times: Phek District was created in 1973, Dimapur in 1998 and Peren District in 2004. The name Kohima comes from KEWHIRA, the name of the village where Kohima town stands, which the British could not pronounce. Kohima village, also called Bara Basti, is described as the second largest village in Asia.